The invention relates to a removing device for removing, detaching or unconnecting injection needles or needle units from an injection or infusion device, in particular an injection pen, and to removing device integrated with a container for receiving, storing and disposing of used needle units and/or needles.
Injection pens are used for subcutaneously administering an active agent, wherein using the pen and dosing the active agent should be sufficiently simple and reliable that administering may be performed not only by medically trained individuals but also by laymen and/or patients. Using typical known pens, the required dosage amount can be set, an injection needle injected into the selected injection area and the active agent dispensed by simple hand movements.
Generally speaking, however, each injection needle or cannula should only be used for an injection once, whereas the injection pen can be repeatedly used and reloaded. In most cases, therefore, an injection needle is arranged in a needle unit which can be removed from the injection pen once the needle has been used, such that a new needle unit can be inserted into the pen for the next administering.
Removing the needle unit, however, harbours a certain danger of injury. After the active agent has been administered, the injection needle is exposed and, typically, a protective cover must be put in place or attached.
An injection needle container for storing needle units is known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,873,462 and 5,829,589. The disclosed containers comprise an individual hollow space, open to one side, for each needle unit, from which a needle unit can be removed and into which it can be placed again. For returning the needle unit, once used, into the hollow space of the container, U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,462 describes a blocking device comprising a sealing flange on the opening of the hollow space and a sealing ring on the needle unit. When the needle unit is inserted into the hollow space with the aid of the injection pen, the flange and the ring establish a fixed connection, such that the needle unit can be removed from the pen. A collar running inwardly is formed at a suitable level in the hollow space, the needle unit resting on said collar when it is inserted. The needle unit is held fixed in its position in the hollow space by the blocking device and the collar. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,589, the blocking device for the needle unit in the hollow space is formed as a screw connection.